Lessons from the island (4) - how relevant is the church?
Lessons from the island (4) - how relevant is the church?
This post concludes the lessons learnt, from the m-trip a few weekends ago ...
During the home visitation, one of the couple mentioned that a particular church in the island gave the islanders an impression that it is meant for the upperty class people, and as a result, many common poor folks like them and many others, do not dare to step into that church. That really caught me thinking ...
While it's good to catch up with time and build churches that caters space for growth, be somewhat more "fresh" in their building structure and design, include decorations and land-scaping, etc, I think the bottomline must be with the kind of physical structure, what sort of impression will it give to the general public?
I'm sure God doesn't want us to build churches so that we and others can admire, and hence glorify ourselves in the good and beautiful works of our hands, right? Churches are built so that it can be a witness for the Lord wherever it stands, and its purpose is to draw people who do not know Him to come into His house that they may hear the Good News, or otherwise encourage believers in the Lord to come together for fellowship and worship. What good is a church that is built that makes the general public feel "uneasy" and "inferior" about stepping into it?
As I look at the churches in our own country, many are rebuilding and extending its terrority. I pray that as we tear down the old and build the new, our building design and structure is planned and managed not with or by human wisdom, but by knowledge and approval from above.
This post concludes the lessons learnt, from the m-trip a few weekends ago ...
During the home visitation, one of the couple mentioned that a particular church in the island gave the islanders an impression that it is meant for the upperty class people, and as a result, many common poor folks like them and many others, do not dare to step into that church. That really caught me thinking ...
While it's good to catch up with time and build churches that caters space for growth, be somewhat more "fresh" in their building structure and design, include decorations and land-scaping, etc, I think the bottomline must be with the kind of physical structure, what sort of impression will it give to the general public?
I'm sure God doesn't want us to build churches so that we and others can admire, and hence glorify ourselves in the good and beautiful works of our hands, right? Churches are built so that it can be a witness for the Lord wherever it stands, and its purpose is to draw people who do not know Him to come into His house that they may hear the Good News, or otherwise encourage believers in the Lord to come together for fellowship and worship. What good is a church that is built that makes the general public feel "uneasy" and "inferior" about stepping into it?
As I look at the churches in our own country, many are rebuilding and extending its terrority. I pray that as we tear down the old and build the new, our building design and structure is planned and managed not with or by human wisdom, but by knowledge and approval from above.
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